Appendix II: Credits

Since 1979, NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign has been a leading voice for New York City’s millions of daily subway and bus riders. The Straphangers Campaign is a project of the New York Public Interest Research Group Fund (NYPIRG).

The 2008 State of the Subways Report Card was made possible by the effort of many
people.

The profiles and MetroCard Ratings were designed by Matt Glomski and Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign in collaboration with Li Howard, who designed the profile mastheads. Li Howard also designed the cover and supervised all graphic elements of the report. Matt Glomski analyzed the numbers for the report. Gene Russianoff wrote the report. Steven Romalewski, former director of NYPIRG’s Community Mapping Assistance Project (CMAP), helped develop the profile criteria and refine our approach. Marty DeBenedictis of NYPIRG consulted on the management of data. Campaign Coordinator Cate Contino supervised fact checking, editing and production. Campaign Field Organizer Jason Chin-Fatt provided additional fact checking and production assistance. Additional production was done by NYPIRG board member Shenelle Peart with help from interns Kristian Davis Bailey, Emma Ewusi, Alex Gomez, Sarah Makuta, Josephine Nsengiyumva, and Jaylene L. Vega.

Special thanks to NYPIRG Executive Director Rebecca Weber, Deputy Director Marvin Shelton, and NYPIRG staff Liz Berger, Geoff Boehm, Meaghan Cleveland and Earl Greaves, for their assistance during many phases of the report.

The methodology for the profiles and the MetroCard Ratings was originally developed in close consultation with the University Transportation Research Center at City College. We are indebted to the analytic skills of Yuko Nakanishi and Robert Paaswell, the director of UTRC. At the start of our project, we received expert and generous guidance from the late Gary Henderson, who has headed past efforts at the MTA Inspector General’s office to improve MTA performance measures.

We thank the following officials at MTA New York City Transit for their assistance: Martin Krieger, formerly of Operations Planning Division; Lois Tendler, Deborah Hall-Moore and Carolyn Jackson-Colley at Government and Community Relations; former Executive Vice President Barbara Spencer; and current Executive Vice President Michael Chubak.

We wish to acknowledge the transit riders who gave us feedback on the original design and contents of the line profiles. Special thanks to our colleagues in the transit riders’ advocacy community: Beverly Dolinsky and Andrew Albert of the New York City Transit Riders Council; Ira Greenberg; Neysa Pranger of Regional Plan Association; and Joseph G. Rappaport.